THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 

PRESENTED  BY 

Mrs,  J.  Ernest  Erwin 

C378 
UK3 


nUiSI  M ,?.''  "-^  "  ="*PEL  HIU 


1 


00039136568 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


Digitized  by  tlie  Internet  Arcliive 

in  2010  witli  funding  from 

University  of  Nortli  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


http://www.archive.org/details/obligationsofculOObout 


[For  the  Press.     Not  to  be  released  untill  Wednesday 
P.  M,,  May  31st] 


The  Obligations  of  Culture 
To  Democracy 


ADDRESS 


HENRY  SHERMAN  BOUTELL 


AT   THE 


ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TENTH  ANNUAL 
COMiMENCEMENT  OF 

The  University  of  xNorth  Carolina 


CHAPEL  HILL,  N.  C. 
MAY  31st,  1905 


Washington.  D.  C. 

GLOBE  PRINTING  COMPANY 

1906 


Mr.  President,  Your  Excellency,  Officers  and  Members  of  the 

University  of  North  Carolina,  Ladies  am,d  Gentlemen : 

Something  over  forty  years  ago  my  father,  in  company  with  cer- 
tain other  gentlemen  from  the  North,  came  without  invitation,  to 
your  State  and  was  given  a  warm  reception  by  the  people  of  North 
Carolina.  In  this  way  it  came  about  that  my  first  acquaintance  with 
your  State  began  while  I  listened,  as  a  boy,  to  the  reading  by  my 
mother  of  the  letters  sent  by  my  father  from  Newbern  in  1862.  It 
gives  me  therefore  a  peculiar  pleasure  to  renew  my  acquaintance 
with  the  people  of  North  Carolina  as  the  guest  of  your  famous  State 
University  on  this  happy  occasion  amid  these  inspiring  sur- 
roundings. Once  more,  Mr.  President,  let  me  thank  you 
for  the  honor  conferred  upon  me  in  asking  me  to  partici- 
pate in  these  dignified  ceremonies  of  your  annual  commencement ; 
and  let  me  also  take  this  opportunity  to  express  to  the  people  of  the 
Old  North  State  my  gratitude  for  what  they  did  not  do  to  my  father 
and  for  the  cordial  welcome  which  they  have  accorded  to  me.  Truly, 
with  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  the  hospitalities  of  peace  are  no 
less  sincere  and  far  more  attractive  to  the  stranger  than  the  hospitali- 
ties of  war. 

Many  of  you  can  now  recall  the  sad  desolation  that  reigned 
throughout  the  South  forty  years  ago  in  this  beautiful  month  of  May. 
Here  the  doors  of  your  beloved  University  were  closed,  for  her  sons 
were  among  the  first  to  go  to  the  front,  and  of  those  who  returned 
they  were  among  the  last.  Their  Alma  Mater  does  M'ell  to  erect  a 
lasting  memorial  to  those  who 

"Lived  as  mothers  wish  their  sons  to  live 
And  died  as  fathers  wi.sh  their  sons  to  die.'' 

Almost  within  sound  of  your  bell  had  just  been  enacted  one  of 
the  last  scenes  of  our  great  national  tragedy.  Your  homes  and  plan- 
tations had  been  laid  waste,  your  young  men  had  perished,  your 
women  were  bowed  down  by  a  grief  too  bitter  for  tears ;  despair  was 
storming  the  last  stronghold  of  hope  in  the  hearts  of  your  bravest. 


5 

Rut  you  ncvor  ixuvc  uj).  To-day  liow  f,'l()ri(>us  is  tlie  transformation 
that  your  i)ati('ii(('  and  coniaj^c  have  wroufflit!  Prosix'rity  reigns 
triuin])lianl  llii'oujilioiit  tlic  Sontli.  Von  of  North  ('arolina  have  cap- 
liH'cd  tiic  mills  of  the  Xortii  aii''  'trought  them  to  your  cotton  fields 
and  forests.  In  tliis  reawakening  and  industrial  regeneration  of  the 
South  let  me  assure  you  that  no  one  rejoices  more  heartily  than  do 
your  brethren  of  the  North.  Must  we  not  all  now  feel,  you  of  the 
South  and  we  of  the  North,  that,  through  the  fiery  ordeal  of  civil 
strife  we  were  reunited  as  a  Nation,  and  strengthened  and  purified  to 
fit  us  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  gi-and  destiny  that  has  been  marked 
out  for  us  by  the  God  of  Nations? 

A  few  weeks  ago  the  graves  of  the  soldiers  of  the  CJonfederaey, 
and  yesterday  the  graves  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Union,  brightened  and 
blos.somed  once  more  with  the  tokens  of  love  and  emblems  of  immor- 
tality ;  and  on  many  occasions  during  the  past  month  those  who  of  old 
had  worn  the  gray  joined  with  those  who  wore  the  blue  in  honoring 
their  beloved  dead.  I  hope  that  it  is  not  too  late  for  me  to  lay  a 
wreath  of  flowers  from  the  State  of  Grant  and  Lincoln  upon  the 
graves  of  those  on  whom  your  State  has  bestowed  the  proud  title  of 
"First   at   Bethel,    farthest  at   Gettysburg,   last  at  Appomattox." 

While  I  was  casting  about  for  the  right  topic  for  our  considera- 
tion to-day,  I  began  to  refresh  my  recollection  of  the  early  history 
of  your  State,  and  I  am  afraid  that  I  was  tempted  to  select  a  subject 
more  in  harmony  with  my  own  inclinations  than  in  keeping  with  the 
dignity  of  this  occasion,  for  I  soon  found  myself  drifting  pleasantly 
through  the  purple  mists  of  old  romance.  I  had  not  gone  far  into  the 
old  records  l>efore  I  became  convinced  that  North  Carolina,  in  the 
annals  of  the  first  two  centuries  of  her  life  especially,  invited  the  poet, 
the  novelist,  the  historian  and  the  biographer  into  beautiful  fields  of 
wonderful,  ungarnered  riches.  Poets  make  many  of  our  national 
heroes ;  and  Massachusetts,  my  native  State,  has  furnished  the  Nation 
with  most  of  our  Revolutionary  heroes;  not  because  North  Carolina 
and  the  other  States  of  the  Old  Thirteen  had  no  heroes,  but  because 
Massachusetts  had  the  poets.  I  am  afraid  that  there  are  New  Eng- 
landers  who  would  feel  offended  if  they  should  be  told  that  Virginia 
Dare  was  born  in    North    ( 'arolina   a   generation   before   Peregrine 


White  and  Oc-e.inHS  Hopkins  saw  the  light  of  day  in  the  cabin  of  the 
Mayflower;  or  that  the  batth'  of  Moore's  Creek  Bridge  was  a  far 
more  important  engagement  from  a  military  point  of  view  than  the 
battle  of  Lexington  or  the  battle  of  Bunker  Ilill.  If  the  shot  fired  by 
the  "embattled  farmers"  at  Ix^xingtou  was  "heard  round  the  world" 
surely  the  shots  fired  by  Lillington  and  Caswell  ought  to  have  been 
heard  in  Massachusetts.  And  yet  only  a  few  years  ago  a  distin- 
guished and  scholarly  Senator  from  Massachusetts  confessed  on  the 
floor  of  the  Senate  that  he  had  never  heard  of  the  battle  of  Moore's 
Creek  Bridge.  In  the  course  of  a  century  and  more  the  sound  of 
those  shots  that  won  the  first  distinct  victory  of  the  revolutionists 
over  the  tories  had  died  away,  because  they  had  no  Emerson  to  per- 
petuate their  music. 

What  rich  and  unused  material  awaits  the  imaginative  artist  in 
the  voyages  to  Pamlico  Sound  of  Raleigh's  adventurers;  in  the  birth, 
baptism  and  mysterious  disappearance  of  the  White  Fawn  of  the 
Roanoke;  in  Governor  White's  return  to  Roanoke  to  find  his  col- 
onists vanished  foi-ever,  leaving  only  a  single  word  carved  on  the 
trunk  of  a  tree ;  in  the  pathetic  experiences  of  the  Palatines,  driven 
from  their  ancient  city  of  Heidelberg  by  fire  and  sword,  wandering 
down  the  Rhine,  finding  an  asylum  in  the  outskirts  of  London  and 
finally  taken  by  de  Grafifenreid  with  his  Swiss  colonists  to  found  the 
city  of  New  Bern  on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness ;  in  the  trials  and 
triumphs  of  the  Hugenots  fleeing  from  persecution  and  finding 
peace  here;  in  the  migrations  of  the  Scotch  Covenanters,  the  Mora- 
vians, the  dissenters  from  Virginia  and  New  England,  seeking  and 
finding  freedom  of  conscience  in  the  colony  of  North  Carolina. 

In  the  realm  of  history  North  Carolina  seemed  to  me  to  be 
as  generous  as  she  was  in  the  field  of  romance. 

The  historian  of  our  national  development  will  do  well  to  fol- 
low the  course  of  events  in  North  Carolina  that  led  up  to  the  move- 
ment for  independence. 

He  will  be  stimulated  by  the  accurate  work  already  done  by 
Clark,  Battle,  Raper,  Haywood,  Clewell  and  other  special  investiga- 
tors. There  are  some  features  in  the  history  of  North  Carolina  of  un- 
usual interest,  and  a  popular  trustworthy  history  of  your  State  would 


9 

be  a  valuable  text-book  in  all  our  scliools  and  colleges.  On  the  soil  of 
North  Caroliuu  were  planted  the  first  En<j;lish  colonies  on  this  con- 
tinent; here  the  first  English  child  was  born;  hither  came  in  the 
early  days  of  the  colony  repi^'sentatives  of  many  stronj;  races,  all 
seekinji'  and  williiifi  to  t1};ht  for  freedom.  North  Carolina  furnishes 
illustrations  of  the  workiujis  of  liotli  the  proprietary  ^ovei-nment  and 
the  crown  jiovernment.  The  first  armed  opposition  to  the  unjust  ex- 
actions of  the  representatives  of  the  tory  government  took  place  here, 
although  as  Haywood  and  others  have  pointed  out  the  Regulation 
movement  was  in  no  sense  an  attempt  to  overthrow  the  existing  gov- 
ernment. North  Carolina  was  the  first  colony  to  instruct  her  dele- 
gates in  the  Continental  Congress  to  vote  for  independence,  and  many 
important  engagements  of  the  war  were  fought  within  her  borders. 
The  people  of  North  Carolina  were  firm  and  outspoken  in  their  op- 
position to  the  Stamp  Act  and  other  encroachments  of  the  crown,  and 
they  warmly  sympathized  with  the  suffering  patriots  in  Boston.  I 
wonder  if  the  Massachusetts  Senator  who  never  heard  of  the  battle 
of  Moore's  Creek  Bridge  ever  heard  of  the  generous  aid  which  the 
people  of  Cape  Fear  and  Edenton  sent  to  the  citizens  of  Boston  in 
1774,  and  of  the  cordial  letters  of  thanks  that  were  sent  by  the  com- 
mittee of  which  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams  were  members? 

The  difl'erence  of  opinion  among  North  Carolinians  respecting 
one  event  in  the  history  of  your  State  baffles  the  efforts  of  the  out- 
side seeker  after  historic  truth.  Unless  some  historian  recovers  that 
missing  copy  of  the  Cape  Fear  Mercury,  or  finds  a  diary  of  Waight- 
still  Avery  for  the  year  1775,  as  full  and  accurate  as  the  enter- 
taining record  of  his  experiences  in  the  year  1767,  or  discovers 
some  hitherto  unknown  letters  from  Joseph  Hewes  to  his  friend 
James  Iredell  enclosing  a  copy  of  the  document  that  Captain  Jack 
delivered  to  him  in  Philadelphia  in  June,  1775,  it  must  remain 
for  the  autlior  of  Wallannah  or  some  other  writer  of  the 
great  historical  novel  of  your  State  to  quiet  all  doubts 
as  to  just  what  did  happen  in  Charlotte  during  the  last 
thirteen  days  of  May  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago  But 
whether  the  brave  men  of  Mecklenburg  met  on  tbe  twentieth  or  the 
thirty-first  of  May  or  on  both  days,  whether  thev  adopted  a  Decla- 


11 

ration  or  IJesolvcs  or  both,  one  thinfj  is  certain,  both  the  men  and 
women  of  Mecklenburg,  by  their  zeal  for  Independence  in  peace 
and  in  war,  well  earned  for  their  county  the  title  of  Hornets'  Neat 
which  Cornwallis  was  stung  into  bestowing  unon  that  patriotic 
community. 

To  the  biographer  North  Carolina  offers  many  inspiring  sub- 
jects. What  noble  examples  of  brave,  virtuous,  useful  living  are 
shown  to  the  youth  of  our  land  in  the  lives  of  such  men  as  Joseph 
Hewes,  the  merchant-patriot,  who  gladly  sacrificed  his  personal 
interests,  his  health  and  finally  his  life  in  the  cause  of  independ- 
ence; James  Iredell,  the  great  lawyer  and  elocjuent  advocate  of  the 
Constitution,  whose  pamphlet  on  the  causes  of  disaffection  in  the 
Colonies,  written  when  he  was  only  twenty-five,  deserves  to  be 
ranked  with  the  best  literature  of  the  Revolutionary  period;  Wil- 
liam Richardsou  Davie,  one  of  the  greatest  men  in  an  age  of  great 
men — soldier,  scholar,  statesman,  lawyer,  philanthropist  and 
patron  of  learning.  In  reading  his  life  I  have  been  constantly  re- 
minded of  the  inscription  on  the  tomb  of  Alexander  Hamilton, 
whose  career  Davie  paralleled  in  many  ways,  "The  Soldier  of  ap- 
proved valor,  the  Statesman  of  consummate  wisdom,  the  Patriot  of 
incorruptible  integrity."  The  distinguished  North  Carolinians  have^ 
not  all  been  included  as  yet  in  Pee^s  excellent  collection. 

I  became  so  interested  in  some  of  the  half-forgotten  portions 
of  the  history  of  your  State,  that  I  had  about  made  up  my  mind  to 
use  this  hour  in  recalling  some  of  its  romantic  and  heroic  incidents, 
when  I  chanced  upon  a  book  that  changed  the  entire  current  of  my 
thoughts.  It  was  a  small,  sheep-bound  volume,  with  covers  deco- 
rated with  dark  blotches  as  if  they  had  been  made  by  a  thumb 
dipped  in  ink.  It  was  printed  at  Edenton  in  1789,  by  Hodge  & 
Wills,  "Printers  to  the  State,"  and  is  entitled  "Proceedings  and  De- 
bates of  the  Convention  of  North  Carolina  convened  at  Hillsbor- 
ough on  Monday,  the  21st  Day  of  July,  1788,  for  the  purpose  of 
deliberating  and  determining  on  the  Constitution  recommended 
by  the  General  Convention  at  Philadelphia  the  17th  day  of  Sep- 
tember, 1787."  I  had  been  familiar  in  a  general  way  with  the 
attitude  of  North  Carolina  respecting  the  adoption  of  the  Consti- 


13 

tiition  and  had  jilaiiccd  tliroiifjh  tli»^  procpcdinca  of  hpr  conventions 
in  Elliot's  Dcbalcs,  but  somf'thinj;  pc^rliaps  in  the  yellow  time- 
worn  pa<;es  and  (]naiiit,  old-fashioned  type  of  this  little  volume 
led  me  to  read  the  I'roceedinfifs  with  great  care.  These  Proceedings 
ought  to  be  used  as  a  text  book  in  every  high  school  in  North  Caro- 
lina, and  every  scholar  ouglit  to  commit  to  memory  Iredell's  open- 
ing plea  for  freedom  of  discussion,  his  eloquent  and  scholarly  dis- 
course on  religious  liberty,  and  Davie's  opening  argument  in  favor 
of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  I  was  greatly  impressed  by 
the  breadth,  earnestness  and  penetration  of  the  views  of  Johnston, 
Iredell,  Maclaine,  Davie  and  the  other  statesmen  who  took  part  in 
these  discussions.  They  had  firm,  well-defined  convictions  respect- 
ing the  rights  of  the  people,  the  functions  of  government,  and  the 
distribution  of  powers  between  the  people  and  the  State  and  Fed- 
eral governments.  Then  I  was  led,  naturally,  to  compare  the 
present  with  the  past  and  to  note  by  comparison  certain  changes 
that  have  taken  place  since  the  establishment  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment in  our  fundamental  laws  and  constitutions.  With  these 
thoughts  in  my  mind  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  would  comport  well 
with  the  character  of  this  anniversary  if  we  should  devote  the  time 
at  our  disposal  to  a  consideration  of  some  of  the  more  important  of 
these  changes,  noting  those  that  have  resulted  from  positive  enact- 
ment and  those  that  have  been  the  result  of  gradual  evolution, 
resting  entirely  in  the  popular  interpretation  of  written  laws.  We 
may  then  consider  whither  this  tendency  towards  change  will  lead 
us,  and  what  are  the  duties  and  responsibilities  imposed  upon  us 
in  view  of  new  and  changing  conditions. 

I  know  of  no  better  audience  in  this  country  for  such  a  discus- 
sion than  the  people  of  North  Carolina.  You  are  the  direct  descend- 
ants, without  any  admixture  of  alien  blood,  of  the  founders  of  our 
government.  Here,  if  anywhere,  have  been  preserved  inviolate  the 
traditions  and  principles  of  the  patriots  of  '76.  More  than  ninety- 
nine  per  cent,  of  your  people  can  boast  of  direct  lineage  through 
North  Carolinian  forefathers.  The  State  of  North  Carolina  there- 
fore occupies  toward  the  other  States  of  the  Union,  if  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  coin  a  phrase,  the  proud,  the  uuique  position  of  contempo- 


15 

ranpons  ancestry.  If,  tlicrcfore,  the  cliau^t's  that  Jiave  taken  place  in 
our  principles  of  government  meet  with  vour  approval,  then  we  may 
feel  reasonably  confident,  that  if  the  men  who  met  at  Ilillhorouf^h  in 
1788  could  return  they  too  would  approve  the  changes  ami  hold  that 
they  were  demanded  by  chanfjed  conditions.  If,  however,  some  of 
these  changes  meet  with  your  disfavor  tlien  we  may  well  reflect  with 
care  whether  we  have  gained  or  lost  liy  departing  from  the  principles 
of  the  Founders. 

I  know  that  in  these  days  of  rapid  national  development  there 
are  sonie  statesmen  who  sneer  at  the  wisdom  of  our  ancestors  and 
rush  toward  an  uncertain  future  with  the  words  of  Edmund  Burke 
on  their  lips:  "Applaud  us  when  we  run,  console  us  when  we  fall, 
cheer  us  when  we  recover,  but  let  us  pass  on,  for  God's  sake  let  us 
pass  on!"  But  in  my  opinion  we  can  not  revert  too  often  nor  too 
humbly  to  the  teachings  of  those  wise  men  of  old  who  fashioned  this 
Republic  for  the  perpetual  preservation  of  liberty  sanctified  by  law. 
To  the  young  men  of  this  Univei-sity,  especially  to  the  members  of 
the  graduating  class,  let  me  say  that  you  Avill  find  no  safer  guides  to 
right  living  and  useful  citizenship  than  the  lives  and  teachings  of 
those  men  who  wrought  nut  independence  and  statehood  for  North 
Carolina. 

Let  us  now  consider  in  detail  some  of  the  changes  that  have 
taken  place  affecting  our  institutions  and  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  the  people.  In  the  first  place  then,  there  has  been  a  great  change 
in  the  relation  of  the  people  to  the  government  resulting  from  a 
gradual  removal  of  the  ancient  restrictions  surrounding  the  tenure 
of  public  oflice  and  the  exercise  of  the  franchise.  By  those  who 
framed  and  approved  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  privilege 
of  voting  and  the  privilege  of  holding  office  were  not  regarded  as 
among  the  natural  and  inalienable  rights  of  man. 

The  first  Constitution  of  North  Carolina,  for  example,  adopted 
in  1776,  provides  that  no  one  shall  hold  a  civil  office  in  the  State  who 
does  not  believe  in  the  Protestant  religion.  All  the  principal  officers 
in  the  State  must  be  landholders.  The  Governor  must  possess  a  free- 
hold of  over  one  thousand  pounds.  Senators  must  own  three  hundred 
acres  in  freehold,  and  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  one  hun- 


17 

(Ircd  acres.  No  ono  could  vote  for  State  Senators  who  was  not  pos- 
sessed of  tiftj'  acres  in  freehold,  and  those  votin}^  for  members  of  the 
House  of  Connnous  must  be  tax-payers.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
North  Carolina  had  no  franchise  restrictions  based  on  race  or  color. 
In  Illinois  on  the  coiilrary,  pri(ir  (o  tlic  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
of  1S70,  only  white  men  could  vote. 

After  the  Civil  War  many  of  the  States,  North  and  South, 
adopted  new  Constitutions  and  through  these  constitutions  and 
throufiii  amendments  to  the  constitutions  of  other  States  there  was  a 
•general  broadenin};-  of  the  franchise  throufihout  the  entire  country. 
In  some  States  the  franchise  has  been  conferred  upon  women  and 
in  a  few  it  has  been  extended  to  foreigners  who  have  declared  their 
intention  to  become  citizens.  The  question  has  often  been  discussed 
of  late  years  whether  unrestricted  suffrage  has  been  productive  of 
unmixed  good. 

In  some  States  of  the  South  and  in  some  of  the  larger  cities  of 
the  North  universal  suffrage  has  seemed  to  be  responsible  for  much 
deplorable  misgovernment.  ^lany  of  the  States  of  the  Union  have 
now  returned  to  a  policy  of  restricting  the  franchise,  but  by  educa- 
tional instead  of  by  the  old  property  qualifications.  One  of  the 
gravest  problems  that  now  confronts  the  people  of  this  country  is  the 
problem  of  securing  good  government  in  our  large  cities.  There  are 
thoughtful  students  of  this  problem  who  think  that  the  Southern 
States  have  set  an  example  which  should  be  followed  by  our  north- 
ern cities,  and  that  in  municipal  elections  the  franchise  should  be 
limited  to  those  who  pay  taxes.  Inasmuch  as  our  municipal, govern- 
ments are  organized  for  the  purpose  of  raising  revenues  to  be  ex- 
pended for  the  common  good,  much  can  be  said  in  favor  of  limiting 
the  right  to  select  those  who  shall  spend  the  money,  to  those  who  con- 
tribute to  the  fund.  The  American  people,  however,  in  theory  at 
least,  believe  in  the  principles  of  pure  democracy  and  the  present 
tendency  among  us  is  to  regard  tenure  of  office  and  the  exercise  of 
the  franchise  as  rights  and  not  as  privileges.  In  the  ideal  democracy 
all  citizens  enjoy  equal  rights  and  equal  privileges,  but  in  the 
ideal  democracy  there  are  no  ignorant  citizens.  Universal  education 
therefore  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  universal  suffrage.    The  duty 


19 

of  the  State  is  manifest.  It  should  i)rovicle  ample  educational  facili- 
ties free  to  all,  prohibit  child  labor  and  make  primary  education 
compulsory. 

But  let  us  not  delude  ourselves  into  the  belief  that  all  the 
enemies  of  the  State  are  illiterates,  or  that  those  who  cross  the  line 
by  which  statisticians  separate  the  illiterates  from  the  literates,  put 
on  at  once  the  <:jarments  of  personal  virtue  and  the  robes  of  civic 
purity.  There  can  be  no  question,  however,  that  education  is  the 
haudmaiden  of  virtue  and  that  vice  consorts  chiefly  with  ignorance. 
We  are  justly  proud  of  our  free  schools,  but  they  are  not  free  to  those 
who  are  kept  away  from  them  by  the  necessities  of  bread-winning. 
Let  me  suggest  to  those  who  are  interested  in  the  cause  of  public 
education  that  it  is  well  within  the  functions  of  the  State  to  provide 
scholarships  which  will  enable  young  men  of  exceptional  talents,  Avho 
otherwise  would  be  unable  to  complete  their  education,  to  attend  the 
high  schools  and  the  universit}'.  It  should  be  the  prime  object  of  all 
our  schools  and  colleges  to  cultivate  in  the  minds  of  their  pupils 
lofty  ideals  of  citizenship,  reverence  for  the  laws,  respect  for  the  con- 
stituted authorities,  and  a  spirit  of  devotion  to  the  Republic  like 
that  which  animated  the  noble-minded  Hewes  when  he  wrote,  in  fail- 
ing health,  from  his  post  of  duty  to  his  friend  Iredell,  "My  country 
is  entitled  to  my  services,  and  I  shall  not  shrinlv  from  her  cause, 
even  though  it  should  cost  me  my  life." 

Our  seminaries  of  learning  should  take  a  fearless  stand  against 
the  rising  tide  of  cynicism  and  materialism  and  should  fight  the 
prevalent  disregard  of  the  laws  and  contempt  for  our  national  tradi- 
tions with  all  the  weapons  that  culture  can  command. 

You  young  men  who  are  about  to  enter  the  ranks  of  active  citi- 
zenship, remember  your  debt  to  your  fathers  and  your  obligations  to 
posterity,  and  so  live  that  you  may  transmit  your  fatherland  not  only 
not  less,  but  greater  and  l>etter  than  it  was  transmitted  to  you. 

Let  us  now  consider  some  of  the  deviations  from  the  original 
scheme  of  government  that  have  resulted,  not  from  actual  changes 
in  the  form  of  our  fundamental  laws,  but  from  the  interpretation  and 
execution  of  certain  provisions  of  our  constitutions.  One  of  the  most 
familiar  examples  of    departure  from  the    original    design    of    the 


21 

framers  of  tlio  Federal  roristitntion  is  tho  prosont  mothod  of  elect- 
iufi'  the  I'rcsidciil  and  Vicc-l'n'sidcnt  of  the  United  States.  It  was 
supposed  tiiat,  iiiidcr  (lie  provision  of  the  Constitution  respecting 
presidential  eieclions,  even  as  altered  \)\  tlie  Twelfth  Amendment,  the 
electors  should  exercise  their  individual  judgments  in  voting  for 
Pi'csident  and  Vice-President.  In  the  debates  concerning  the  adopt- 
ion of  the  Constittuion  it  was  urged  in  favor  of  the  provisions  for  the 
election  of  the  Executive  that  as  the  electors  would  be  representative 
men  of  wisdom  and  experience,  and  as  no  elector  would  kijow  for 
whom  the  others  would  vote,  the  man  who  received  the  majority  of 
the  votes  would  certainly  be  the  one  best  fitted  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  the  high  office  for  which  he  had  been  chosen  by  the  free  vote  of 
representative  men  from  the  various  States.  This  delegation  by  the 
people  to  a  body  of  select  men  of  the  power  to  choose  executive  and 
other  officers  was  a  familiar  feature  in  the  early  State  constitutions. 
To  take  another  illustration  from  North  Carolina,  your  Constitution 
of  1776  provided  that  the  General  Assembly  should  elect  by  joint 
ballot  the  Governor,  judges  and  attorney-general.  The  tendency  dur- 
ing the  past  hundred  years  has  been  to  do  away  with  this  delegation 
of  power  and  to  place  the  selection  of  all  officers  in  the  hands  of  the 
people.  The  people  wished  to  vote  directly  for  President  and  they  ac- 
complished their  jjurpose  without  any  change  in  the  language  of  the 
Constitution,  by  the  simple  device  of  nominating  President  and  elec- 
tors by  party  convention.s.  The  duties  of  the  electors  are  now  purely 
formal  and  consist  in  registering  the  will  of  the  people  expressed  in 
these  conventions. 

This  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  resume  their  right 
to  choose  all  officers  directly  has  led  to  changes  in  the  method  of 
selecting  judicial  officers  in  most  of  the  States.  In  the  older  States 
the  judges  were  originally  appointed  by  the  Governor  or  chosen  by 
the  Legislature  for  life.  This  was  true  in  North  Carolina,  and  even 
(he  justices  of  the  peace  were  appointed  bv  the  Governor  for  life. 
In  the  majority  of  the  States  now  the  judicial  officers  are  elected 
by  the  people  for  a  term  of  years.  At  the  present  time  there  are 
many  who  advocate  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution  so 
that  the  judges  of  the  United  States  Courts  may  be  chosen  for 
limited  terms  by  popular  vote. 


23 

It  is  worth  while  to  rfcali  tiiat  even  .Tefffrson  and  the  meniberR 
of  his  school  of  political  tlion}:;ht  regarded  the  life  tenure  of  the 
judiciary  as  essential  to  the  stability  of  the  State  and  National 
{loveruinents.  In  spcakluj;  of  the  Federal  judiciary  Jefferson  said: 
"This  is  a  body  which  if  rendered  independent  and  ke|)t  strictly  to 
their  own  department,  merits  great  confidence  for  their  learning 
and  integrity.  In  fact,  what  degree  of  confidence  would  be  too 
much  for  a  body  composed  of  such  men  as  Wythe,  Blair  and  Pendle- 
ton? t)n  characters  like  these  the  ^civium  ardor  praia  juhcntium'' 
would  make  no  impression."  In  his  draft  of  a  constitution  for  the 
State  of  A'irginia  Jefferson  provided  for  a  life  tenure  for  all  judi- 
cial oflticers.  In  July,  1776,  he  wrote  to  George  Wythe  :  "The  dignity 
and  stability  of  government  in  all  its  branches,  the  morals  of  the 
people  and  every  blessing  of  society  depends  so  much  upon  an  up- 
righi  and  skillful  administration  of  justice  that  the  juidicial  power 
ought  to  be  distinct  from  both  the  legislative  and  executive  and 
independent  of  both,  that  so  it  may  be  a  check  upon  both  as  both 
should  be  checks  upon  that.  The  judges  therefore  should  always  be 
men  of  learning  and  experience  in  the  laws,  of  exemplary  morals, 
great  patience,  calmness  and  attention;  their  minds  should  not  be 
distracted  with  jarring  interests,  they  should  not  be  dependent 
upon  any  man  or  body  of  men.  To  these  ends  they  should  hold 
estates  for  life  in  their  offices.  Or,  in  other  words,  their  commis- 
sioas  should  be  during  good  behavior." 

If  Davie,  Madison,  Fisher  Ames,  Alexander  Hamilton  and  the 
other  great  Federalist  leaders  could  revisit  the  scenes  of  their  la- 
bors and  triumphs  they  would  marvel  of  course  at  the  magnitude 
and  strength  of  the  mighty  nation  that  has  developed  out  of  the  lit- 
tle Republic  which  they  founded,  but  our  national  instinct  would 
come  to  their  aid  and  they  would  quickly  accustom  themselves  to 
our  mere  bigness.  A  few  things  however  we  mav  be  sure  would 
continue  to  surprise  them.  It  would  be  difficult  for  them  to  com- 
prehend the  great  increase  in  the  power  exercised  by  the  Federal 
Government  in  all  its  departments,  not  only  in  extent  but  in  char- 
acter, and  the  corresponding  diminution  in  the  influence  and 
dignity  of  the  State  governments.   The  feature  of  the  change  that 


wimld  be  most  dinicnlt  fur  lliciii  to  iiiidcrstaiKl  would  be  the  ap- 
parently abnormal  influence  of  tlie  United  States  Senate  as  a  body 
and  the  present  attitude  of  the  senators  towards  the  lejjislatures 
that  elected  them.  If  they  could  read  in  the  papers  that  the  Senate 
had  recently  failed  to  act  upon  a  measure  that  had  been  recom- 
mended by  the  President,  had  passed  the  House  of  Kepresentatives, 
and  had  been  endorsed  by  many  of  the  State  Legislatures,  they 
would  rub  their  eyes  in  bewildeniient.  Ames  would  recall  with 
Tonsternation  his  speech  in  the  Massachusetts  Convention  on  the 
functions  and  powers  of  the  Senate,  and  Davie  would  repeat  in 
confusion  his  words  spoken  in  the  North  Carolina  Convention,  "The 
confidence  of  the  people  acquired  by  a  wise  and  virtuous  conduct, 
is  the  only  Influence  the  members  of  the  Federal  Government  can 
ever  have." 

During-  the  first  three-quarters  of  a  century  of  our  national  life 
the  governorship  of  the  smallest  of  the  States  was  considered  an 
ofilice  of  more  dignity  and  influence  than  the  senatorship  from  the 
largest  State.  Perhaps  the  best  evidence  of  the  relative  importance 
that  was  popularly  attached  to  these  offices,  is  the  opinion,  ex- 
pressed in  the  most  emphatic  manner  possible,  by  many  incum- 
bents of  the  two  positions.  Prior  to  18fi5  many  Senators  showed 
the  estimation  in  which  they  held  the  office  to  which  they  had  been 
chosen  by  resigning,  some  to  make  the  race  for  Governor,  others  to 
accept  what  their  successors  in  the  Senate  at  this  dav  would  term 
minor  offices.  In  the  first  Congress  Senator  Paterson,  of  Xew 
Jersey,  resigned  to  become  Governor  of  his  State,  and  Senator 
Johnson,  of  Connecticut,  to  become  President  of  Columbia  College. 
Josiah  Bartlett,  of  New  Hampshire,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  declined  eletcion  as  United  States 
Senator  in  the  first  Congress  in  order  that  he  might  become 
President  of  New  Hampshire.  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  and  John 
Davis,  of  Massachusetts,  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  Wil- 
liam L.  Marcy  and  Martin  Van  Buren,  of  New  York,  Alexander 
Mouton,  of  Louisiana,  and  others  left  the  Senate  for  the  Governor- 
ship of  their  respective  States.  William  Cary  Nicholas,  of  Vir- 
ginia, resigned  from  the  Senate  to  become  collector  of  the  port  of 


27 

Norfolk;  David  Stone,  of  North  Carolina,  to  betomc  judge  of  his 
State  Supreme  Court;  Richard  E.  Parker,  of  Virginia,  to  become 
judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  his  State;  Asa  Briggs,  of  North 
Carolina,  to  become  United  States  District  Judge;  the  famous 
Charles  Carroll,  of  CarroUton,  to  become  a  State  Senator;  James 
Watson,  of  New  York,  to  accept  the  post  of  United  States  Navy 
Agent,  and  Theodorus  Bailey,  New  York,  to  accept  the  position  of 
postmaster  at  New  York  City.  John  Taylor,  of  South  Carolina, 
showed  his  understanding  of  which  was  the  lower  house  of  Con- 
gress by  resigning  from  the  Senate  to  take  a  seat  in  the  House  of 
Representatives.  One  of  the  most  striking  illustrations  of  the 
comparative  estimate  placed  upon  the  senatorship  and  the  gover- 
norship is  offered  by  the  action  of  the  two  Senators  from  Missis- 
sippi in  1851.  In  that  year  Jefferson  Davis  and  Henry  Stuart  Foote 
both  resigned  from  the  Senate  to  canvass  their  State  as  rival  can- 
didates for  the  governorship. 

As  a  final  illustration  we  may  take  the  case  of  N.  P.  Tallmadge, 
of  New  York.  In  1844  he  gave  up  his  seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate  from  the  Empire  State  to  accept  from  President  Tyler  the 
Governorship  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin.  If  you  wish  to  realize 
fully  the  extent  of  this  change  that  we  have  been  considering  try 
to  picture  to  yourselves  the  spectacle  of  a  Senator  from  New  York 
at  the  present  day  resigning  his  seat  in  the  most  powerful  legis- 
lative chamber  in  the  world  to  become  Governor  of  Alaska  or 
Oklahoma.  During  the  last  forty  years  few  Senators  of  the  United 
States  have  resigned  and  not  one  has  left  the  Senate  to  become  a 
Governor.  Formerly  the  Senatorship  was  regarded  politically  as 
a  stepping-stone  to  the  Governorship;  of  late  years  the  Governor- 
ship has  been  looked  upon  merely  as  a  stepping-stone  to  the  Senate. 
There  have  been  many  instances  where  Governors  have  left  their 
offices  to  step  into  the  Senate.   Wisconsin  and  Tennessee  have  fur- 

E'  ed  such  an  illustration  within  the  past  few  months. 
Side  by  side  with  this  increase  in  the  power  and  influence  of  the 
ite  there  has  developed  a  radical  change  in  the  relations  between 

the  individual  Senators  and  the  Legislatures  that  elected  them.  In 
the  opinion  of  the  framers  of  the  Federal  Constitution  the  Senators 


29 

wero  to  rrprcsciit  in  tlio  national  <i()V('nuii(Mit  tlio  interests  of  sover- 
ei<;n  States.  They  stood  for  tlie  States,  and  stainlinj^-  for  tlie  States, 
they  wiTe  to  j^uard  af;ainst  eneroaclnnents  hy  (lie  ^^'de^al  n|)on  the 
States  fioverniuents.  They  were  referred  to  as  anibassadoi-s  hy  even 
sueli  an  ardent  Federalist  as  Ames.  Senator  Tazewell,  of  Vir- 
ginia, havinf^  heen  offered  a  seat  in  the  (Cabinet  of  President  Jackson, 
said  in  reference  to  his  refusal  of  the  offer:  "Having  been  elected  a 
Senator,  I  would  as  soon  thiidc  of  taking  a  i>lace  under  George  IV  if 
I  was  sent  as  minister  to  his  court,  as  I  would  to  take  a  jilace  in  the 
Cabinet." 

While  this  view  of  the  senatorial  ottice  ])revailed  it  was  not  un- 
common for  a  State  legislature  to  express  its  wishes  to  its  Senators 
in  Congress  by  instructions  or  directions  which  the  Senators  were  ex- 
pected to  comply  with.  If  for  any  reason  they  were  unwilling  Vi 
comply  it  was  customary  for  them  to  resign.  It  Mas  a  difference  of 
opinion  between  Senator  Tyler  and  the  Legislatures  of  Virginia 
that  led  to  the  Senator's  resignation  in  1836. 

North  Carolina  has  furnished  a  most  interesting  example  of  the 
relation  that  formerly  existed  between  the  State  government  and  its 
representatives  in  the  United  States  Senate.  As  no  connected  narra- 
tion of  the  incident  has  been  published,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  I  can 
not  refrain  fi'om  giving  in  detail  the  documentary  history  of  the  case 
as  I  have  been  able  to  gather  it  from  an  old  file  of  the  North  Carolina 
Standard.  In  1838  Robert  Strange  and  Bedford  Brown  were  the 
United  States  Senators  from  North  Carolina.  They  had  voted  to  ex- 
punge the  resolutions  of  the  Senate  censuring  President  Jackson. 
On  December  1,  1838,  these  resolutions  were  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  North  Carolina : 

Whereas,  we  believe  that  a  great  crisis  has  arrived  in  the  politi- 
cal history  of  our  country,  on  the  issue  of  which  we  conceive  the  safety 
of  our  free  institutions  to  depend;  and  whereas,  we  consider  it  our 
bounden  duty,  as  the  representatives  of  the  Freemen  of  North  Caro- 
lina, to  express  in  calm,  and  dispassionate  language,  our  opinions  on 
the  great  questions,  which  have  been  for  some  time,  and  some  of 
which  still  are  agitating  the  public  mind  : 

Resolved,  therefore.  That  this  General  Assembly  do  condemn  in 
the  most  decided  manner,  the  act  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 


31 

<^xpun}iinf;-  tlic  n-conls  of  llial  liody,  as  a  i»ali)alil('  violafioii  of  tlu» 
plain  letter  of  the  Constitution,  and  as  an  act  of  party  servility,  cal- 
culated to  dejirade  the  character  of  the  Weiiate. 

Ursolrcd,  That  resolutions  ouj;ht  to  he  passed  hy  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  condemnatory  of  that  act,  and  rescindinf;-  the  reso- 
lutions authorizinf''  it  to  he  done. 

Rcsolrcd,  That  this  (Jeneral  Asseiuhly  do  condemn  the  sub- 
treasury  system,  which  the  administration  is  endeavoring  to  estab- 
lish, as  another  item  in  that  series  of  fatal  experiments,  of  this  and 
the  past  administration,  which  are  the  main  source  of  that  derange- 
ment in  the  currency,  and  prostration  of  commercial  credit,  which 
have  been  so  severely  felt  of  late  in  every  branch  of  industry — and 
which  if  sutTered  to  become  a  law,  will,  by  its  tendency  to  augment 
executive  power,  to  unite  the  purse  and  the  sword  in  the  hands  of  the 
executive,  and  to  destroy  the  credit  system,  by  the  exaction  of  specie 
in  the  Government  dues,  ultimately  change  the  real  character  of  our 
Government,  and  place  in  peril  the  liberties  of  our  country. 

Resolved,  That  we  consider  the  public  lands  of  the  United  States, 
as  the  common  property  of  all  the  States,  and  that  we  therefore  con- 
demn the  late  act  of  Congress,  allowing  settlers  on  the  public  lands 
the  right  of  preemption  at  the  minimum  price,  as  an  act  of  gross  in- 
justice to  the  old  States,  who  originally  ceded  them,  or  who  con- 
tributed to  a  common  fund  for  their  purchase. 

Kesolred,  That  we  believe  that  the  ju-oper  and  equitable  disposi- 
tion of  the  public  domain,  is,  to  divide  the  proceeds  arising  from  their 
sales,  among  the  several  States  of  the  Ihiion,  according  to  the  ratio 
of  their  Federal  population. 

Resolved,  That  we  do  most  solemnly  protest  against  the  wasteful 
extravagance  of  the  present  administration,  and  their  profligate  ex- 
penditure of  the  public  money,  which  not  only  creates  a  demand  for 
heavy  taxation,  in  order  to  meet  the  exorbitant  appropriations  of  the 
General  Government,  but  which  tends  to  the  corruption  of  public 
morals  and  the  degradation  of  the  national  character. 

Resolved,  That  the  power  and  patronage  of  the  executive  depart- 
ment of  the  Federal  (Jovernment,  have  increased  to  an  alarming  ex- 
tent, and  ought  to  be  diminished. 

Resolved,  That  our  Senators  in  Congress,  will  represent  the 
wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  people  of  this  State,  by  voting  to  carrv  out 
the  foregoing  resolutions. 

Resolved,  That  the  Governor  of  this  State  be  requested  to  for- 
ward a  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  each  of  our  Senators  in  Congress, 
with  a  request  that  they  lay  them  before  the  Senate  of  the  United 


33 

States,  and  ono  to  oach  of  the  Oovcrnors  of  tlio  spv(>ral  States  of  tlie 
Union,  with  a  request  that  (hey  hiy  tlieiii  before  their  resi)ective  h^gis- 
latures. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  i)assage  of  tliese  resolutions  this  letter  was 
laid  before  the  (Jeneral  Assenil)Iy: 

]\'ashiii(;toii  ( 'iti/,  Decemher  ■31st,  18,iH. 
To  the  Honorable  the  (Jeneral  Asseitihli/  of  North  Carolina. 
Oentlemen : 

Having  learned  from  unoffieial  sources,  which,  however,  leave 
no  doubt  upon  our  minds  of  the  correctness  of  their  information,  that 
certain  resolutions  have  passed  your  honorable  bodies,  expressive  of 
the  opinions  of  a  majority  of  each  of  them  upon  political  matters, 
some  of  which  have  been  and  others  still  are  pending  before  the  coun- 
try, we  have  been  induced  to  anticipate  their  coming  to  hand,  and 
respectfully  address  yon  concerning  them.  In  thus  anticipating  the 
reception  of  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  through  an  official  channel, 
we  trust  that  an  apology  will  be  found  in  the  information  we  have 
received  of  the  intention  of  the  Legislature  to  adjourn  at  ap  early  day. 
The  resolutions  do  not  expressly  instruct  us  to  carry  into  effect  the 
opinions  expressed  therein,  nor  are  we  able  to  perceive  in  them  im- 
pliedly any  authoritative  command  such  as  instructions  convey.  We 
are  therefore  left  to  infer  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  General  As- 
sembly not  to  assert  or  exercise  the  right  of  instruction,  from  the 
absence  of  the  mandatory  terms  heretofore  used,  when  the  General 
Assembly  of  North  Carolina  has  thought  proper  to  resort  to  it.  The 
ground  heretofore  occupied  by  us,  is  wholly  unchanged  and  scarcely 
needs  recapitulation ;  we  have  publicly  declared  that  whenever  in- 
structions are  given  us  by  the  Legislature,  we  will  either  obey  them, 
or  resign. 

We  therefore  respectfully  ask  of  your  honorable  bodies,  if  we  are 
wrong  in  our  construction  of  the  resolutions,  that  we  may  be  set  right 
in  time  to  act  as  becomes  the  position  in  which  we  stand.  With  a 
view  to  prevent  any  misinterpretation  of  our  motives,  we  disclaim 
any  intention  of  disrespect  to  the  Legislature,  considering  it  not  only 
a  duty  to  ourselves,  thus  respectfully  to  make  this  request,  but  that 
we  owe  it  to  the  people  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  whose  inter- 
ests have  been  confided  to  us  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect. 
Your  ob't  servants, 

ROBERT  STRANGE, 
BEDFORD  BROWN. 


35 

This  lotter  from  (lie  Senators  liroufjlit  forth  the  following  reso- 
Intion  which  was  passed  bv  tlie  Legislature  on  January  5,  1839 : 

-'  RcHolrrd,  That  the  resolutions  passed  by  the  CJeneral  Assembly, 
and  transmittenl  to  our  Senators  in  Congress,  are  suflfioiently  plain 
and  intelligible  to  be  <'omprehended  by  any  one  desirous  of  under- 
standing them,  that  we  believe  this  eommunieation  antieipating  the 
reception  of  said  resolutions,  and  making  inquiry  as  to  their  mean- 
ing, is  not  in  good  faith,  and  that  it  would  be  inconsistent  with  the 
self-respect  of  this  General  Assembly,  to  make  any  reply  to  it.    W 

The  Senators,  after  full  consideration,  were  doubtless  satisfied 
that  the  legislature  was  in  earnest  and  that  the  resolutions  were 
intended  to  be  mandatory  instructions,  for  in  the  following  year 
they  resigned. 

There  has  been  no  recent  instance  of  a  State  Legislature  is- 
suing mandatory  instructions  to  its  United  States  Senators  and 
offering  them  the  choice  of  compliance  or  resignation.  On  the  con- 
trary there  is  in  some  States  a  growing  tendency  on  the  part  of  the 
Legislature  to  follow  the  instructions  of  the  Senators.  This  reversal 
of  the  relations  that  formerly  existed  betw^een  the  State  Govern- 
ments and  the  United  States  Senators  has  come  about  without  any 
amendment  to  theGonstitution  or  other  legislation.  The  States  have 
gradually  but  voluntarily  relinquished  their  ancient  prerogatives. 
And  now,  as  a  logical  outcome  of  this  renunciation  by  the  States, 
comes  the  demand  from  many  quarters  for  the  election  of  United 
States  Senators  by  popular  vote.  In  the  Massachusetts  Conven- 
tion of  1788,  Fisher  Ames,  ardent  Federalist  though  he  was,  char- 
acterized the  election  of  United  States  Senators  by  the  people  as 
an  absurdity,  repugnant  to  the  Federal  principle  of  the  Consti- 
tution. If  Senators  ceased  to  represent  their  State  Legislatures 
"what,''  he  asked,  "would  become  of  the  State  Governments,  or  on 
whom  would  devolve  the  duty  of  defending  them  from  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  Federal  Government?"  He  gave  his  own  answer.  "A 
consolidation  of  the  States  would  ensue,  which  it  is  conceded,  would 
subvert  the  new  Constitution."  To-day  the  truth  of  the  contention 
of  Ames  is  apparent,  but  the  people  in  many  States  do  not  seem  to 
fear  the  result  of  the  destruction  of  the  federal  principle.  The 
Legislatures  of  fifteen   States,   including  North    Carolina,    have 


37 

passed  resolutions  favorinj;  an  amondnicnt  to  the  Federal  Constitii 
tion  to  provide  for  the  choice  of  United  States  Senators  by  popular 
vote.  This  proposition  passed  the  Tlouse  of  Kepresentatives  in  the 
tifty-sixtli  (\)n<;ress  bv  a  lar<;e  majority,  tiie  delegation  from  North 
Carolina  votinji  unanimously  in  its  favor. 

Public  sentiment  is  driftin}>-  rapidly  away  from  the  old  prin- 
ciple of  a  federal  union  of  locally  independent  democracies,  and 
towards  the  establishment  of  one  absolute  national  democracy. 
It  is  sifiniticant  of  the  strenyih  of  this  current  of  popular  opinion 
that  the  movement  in  favor  of  the  destruction  of  the  most  charac- 
teristic feature  of  the  federal  system,  should  receive  its  greatest 
impetus  in  those  States  that  formerly  were  the  most  zealous  in  up- 
holding the  dignity  of  the  State  Governments. 

Let  us  now  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  exercise  of  the* 
Federal  Government  of  powers  not  expressly  granted  to  it  by  the 
Federal  Constitution  nor  contemplated  by  the  framers  of  that  in- 
strument. The  most  striking  illustration  of  the  exercise  by  Con- 
gress of  unexpressed  power  is  the  imposition  of  excises  or  internal 
taxes  for  other  than  revenue  purposes.  The  excise  was  the  most 
unpopular  form  of  taxation  with  our  ancestors.  Many  statesmen 
among  them  thought  that  this  source  of  revenue  should  not  be 
given  to  Congress.  The  first  armed  insurrection  against  the  Federal 
Government  grew  out  of  opposition  to  the  first  internal  revenue 
tax.  As  late  as  1811  Jefferson  in  discussing  the  excise  said,  "I  hope 
the  death  blow  to  that  most  vexatious  and  unproductive  of  all 
taxes  was  given  at  the  commencement  of  my  administration,  and 
believe  its  revival  would  give  the  death  blow  to  any  administratiou 
whatever."  In  the  North  Carolina  Convention  Spencer  said:  "I 
would  give  to  Congress  the  power  to  lay  and  collect  excises,  but  I 
confess  that  this  is  a  kind  of  tax  so  odious  to  a  free  people  that  I 
would  with  great  reluctance  agree  to  its  exercise."  What  would 
these  gentlemen  think  had  come  over  the  spirit  of  their  country- 
men if  they  could  now  see  them  accepting  calmly,  indifferently 
even,  internal  taxes  imposed,  not  for  the  purpose  of  raising  reve- 
nue, but  for  the  purpose  of  vesting  in  the  National  Government  the 
regulation  and  control  of  the  manufactures,  trade  and  commerce 


39 

of  the  country  with  the  intoiitiou  of  upbuildiny  some  iudiistries  and 
destroying  others?  And  yet  such  is  tlie  i-haracter  of  many  laws 
i^cently  enacted  by  roujiress.  On  their  face  they  are  revenue 
measures,  in  reality  they  are  trade  reuulations.  The  oleomargarine 
tax  was  avowedly  designed  to  destroy  one  domestic  industry  for 
the  benefit  of  a  competitor. 

The  Supreme  Court  having  sanctioned  and  the  people  having 
approved  this  use  of  the  taxing  power  by  the  Federal  Government 
we  may  expect  to  see  it  rapidly  extended.  By  the  use  of  this  power 
Congress  may,  under  the  guise  of  raising  revenue,  destroy  an  in- 
dustry expressly  authorized  by  one  of  the  States.  If  this  power  had 
been  granted  in  express  terms  by  the  Federal  Constitution  that 
instrument  would  have  been  promptly  rejected  by  the  conventions 
of  all  the  States.  If  Davie  had  suggested  to  the  North  Carolina 
ratifying  convention  that  such  a  power  could  be  inferred  from  the 
language  of  the  Constitution,  Spencer  could  have  led  a  unanimous 
vote  against  its  adoption.  Now,  however,  a  majority  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States  has  approved,  through  its  representatives 
in  Congress,  the  use  by  the  Federal  Crovernmeut  of  the  power  of 
internal  taxation  for  other  than  revenue  purposes.  To  what  extent 
will  this  power  be  used  in  the  future?  It  may  be  invoked  to  aid  or 
to  ruin  an  industry,  for  regulating  corporations  and  for  the  super- 
vision of  manufactures.  It  can,  by  nice  discriminations  in  taxes, 
build  up  an  Industry  in  one  State  and  annihilate  it  in  another.  In 
the  last  Congress  a  bill  was  introduced  imposing  a  nominal  tax  on 
domestic  wines  of  a  certain  grade,  and  a  heavy  tax  on  domestic 
wines  of  other  grades.  The  passage  and  enforcement  of  this  meas- 
ure would  give  to  one  State  a  monopoly  of  the  wine  culture  of  the 
country  and  destroy  the  value  of  the  vineyards  in  the  other  States. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  a  tax  of  ten  cents  a  gallon  on  petroleum 
combined  with  a  repeal  of  the  present  tax  on  alcohol  would  meet 
with  popular  favor;  that  it  would  give  the  people  a  cleaner,  safer 
fuel  and  would  destroy  the  oil  monopoly;  that  if  it  did  not  the  tax 
could  be  increased  until  it  did;  that  such  a  measure  would  also  add 
enormously  to  the  riches  of  the  grain-growing  States.  Putting  aside 
all  question  as  to  the  worthiness  of  the  objects  now  attained  or  that 


41 

iiiiiy  Itt"  a((()in|)lisli(Ml  in  ilic  rutiirc  h.v  this  sort  of  Federal  lojrisla- 
tion,  we  may  well  ask  whctlicr  tliis  extension  of  the  powers  of  tbe 
National  (iovernnieni  is  not  a  wide  departure  from  the  desif^n  of 
tlie  franiers  of  the  Constitution,  lias  not  Congress  assumed  the 
exercise  of  powers  that  (»nr  fatiiers  tlioniiht  could  be  exercised 
more  wisely  and  more  safely  by  the  State  (iovernmeuts?  They 
(lioujilit  that  a  nmjority  of  the  people  of  all  the  States  should  in- 
terfere as  seldom  as  j)ossible  witb  tbe  wisiies  of  a  majority  of  the 
people  in  any  single  State.  Now,  the  wishes  of  a  majority  or  even  of 
all  of  the  people  in  one  State  fjive  little  concern  to  the  majority  of 
the  people  of  all  the  States  acting  through  Congress.  Before  this 
principle  shall  have  received  further  extension  let  us  take  counsel 
together  and  ask  ourselves  whether  in  this  matter  we  are  wiser 
than  the  fathers. 

Looking,  for  a  moment,  into  the  future,  we  can  see  that,  if  the 
present  agitation  in  favor  of  government  ownership  and  operation  of 
railways  and  other  public  utilities,  shall  result  in  the  apprcjval  of 
such  a  policy  by  the  people,  the  walls  of  independent  statehood  will 
rapidly  be  lowered.  Can  the  Nation  profit  by  a  further  circumscrib- 
ing of  the  powers  of  the  State  governments?  The  doctrine  of  State 
sovereignty  as  it  was  understood  fifty  years  ago,  never  had  a  secure 
place  in  the  creed  of  the  founders  of  our  National  Union,  and  for- 
tunately it  has  now  passed  forever  out  of  our  calculations.  But  it 
is  as  unfortunate  as  it  was  unnecessary  that,  in  the  passing  of  this 
doctrine,  the  States  should  have  renounced  any  of  their  ancient  pre- 
rogatives, or  lost  one  whit  of  the  influence  and  dignity  which  they 
formerly  possessed  as  equal,  independent  democracies  in  a  Federal 
Union  whose  health,  vigor  and  permanency  must  depend  upon  the 
conservation  of  the  health  and  vigor  of  these  separate  democracies. 
It  was  Fisher  Ames,  the  New  England  Federalist,  who  said  "Tbe 
State  governments  represent  the  wishes,  the  feelings  and  local  in- 
terests of  tbe  people.  They  are  tbe  safeguards  and  ornament  of  the 
Constitution,  they  will  protract  tbe  i)eriod  of  our  liberties,  they  will 
afford  a  shelter  against  the  abuse  of  power,  and  will  be  the  natural 
avenger  of  our  violated  rights."  And  it  was  Davie,  the  North  Caro- 
lina Nationalist,  who  said,  *'If  there  were  any  seeds  in  this  Consti- 


43 

tution  whuh  niijjlit  one  day  produce  a  consolidation  of  the  States,  it 
would,  sir,  with  me,  he  an  insuperahle  ohjection  ;  I  am  so  perfectly  con- 
vince<l  that  so  extensive  a  country  as  this,  can  never  be  managed  by 
one  consolidated  government.  The  Federal  Convention  were  as  well 
convinced  as  the  members  of  this  House,  that  the  State  governments 
were  absolutely  necessary  to  the  existence  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment. They  considered  them  as  the  great  massy  pillars  on  which 
this  political  fabric  was  to  be  extended  and  supported,  and  were  fully 
persuaded,  that  when  they  were  removed  or  should  moulder  down  by 
time,  the  general  government  must  tumble  into  ruins." 

Since  those  impressive  words  were  spoken  our  Nation  has  ex- 
tended her  domain  beyond  the  hopes  and  dreams  of  her  founders.  She 
has  advanced  the  outposts  of  civilization  and  liberty  far  beyond  the 
reach  of  their  prophetic  vision,  planting  her  standards  in  the  wilder- 
ness and  in  the  islands  of  the  sea.  Through  trials  which  they  would 
not  have  dared  to  contemplate  she  has  only  added  to  her  strength. 
She  has  assumed  burdens  that  have  tested  the  soundness  of  every 
liber  in  her  being;  and  she  has  stood  the  test  without  a  quiver.  The 
United  States  is  to-day  the  most  potent  influence  in  the  world  making 
for  peace  among  the  nations.  To  all  external  attacks  our  Republic 
is  now  impregnable.  The  only  present  dangers  to  the  Nation  are 
from  within.  The  more  obvious  of  these  dangers  are,  the  difficulty 
of  securing  honest,  efficient  government  in  our  large  cities ;  a  certain 
almost  fanatical  worship  of  material  wealth  and  the  outward 
manifestations  of  its  power  giving  to  money  an  unwholesome  in- 
fluence upon  public  sentiment,  national  ideals  and  the  operations  of 
government ;  and  by  far  the  most  threatening  of  them  all,  the  growing 
centralization  of  governmental  functions  in  the  National  Govern- 
ment accompanied  by  a  corresponding  diminution  of  the  powers  of 
the  State  governments. 

We  may  confidently  hope  that  the  healing  influences  of  time  will 
soon  remedy  two  of  these  evils. 

As  the  population  of  our  great  cities  becomes  more  homo- 
geneous and  enlightened  we  shall  solve  the  problem  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment without  any  deviation  from  the  true  principles  of  de- 
mocracy. 


46 

The  iiiloration  of  Mnniinon  is  as  old  as  the  race  and  is  quite 
cliaractcristic  of  a  new  civilization  in  a  country  of  boundless  re- 
sources. Hut  with  the  spread  of  culture  wealth  will  assume  its 
proper  proportions  in  the  eyes  of  the  peojtie  and  lose  its  abnormal 
influence.  Time,  however,  seems  only  to  strenf^then  the  tendency  to- 
ward (he  concentration  of  jjovernmental  functions. 

In  the  brief  glance  that  we  have  taken  at  some  of  the  more 
inuminent  features  in  our  national  evolution  we  have  noticed  a 
siKinji  determination  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  establish  in  the 
I  States  absolute  democracies  based  upon  universal  suffrage;  to  con- 
1  trnl,  by  popular  vote,  the  choice  of  all  officers,  and  to  limit  the  ten- 
II ;  I'  of  all  offices  to  a  term  of  years.  While  these  movements  have  been 
lading  on  the  people  have  allowed  the  States  to  lose  many  of  their 
original  privileges.  Rights  which  the  States  once  exercised  have 
liccn  lost  or  assumed  by  the  National  Government.  There  is  a  strong 
drift  toward  the  merging  of  the  independent  State  democracies  into 
one  national  democracy.  To  check  this  tendency  should  be  the  aim 
of  every  patriotic  citizen.  We  must  preserve  in  all  its  original  purity 
our  Federal  representative  system,  based  upon  healthy,  robust  local 
governments.  Upon  the  vital  energy  of  the  principle  of  local,  self- 
government  depends  the  permanency  of  the  Republic.  I  wish  that 
we  could  reach  to-day  with  the  words  of  Ames  and  Davie  all  the 
young  men  of  the  Nation,  upon  whom  rest  the  hopes  of  the  country 
for  the  next  generation.  Let  us  hope  that  some  of  them  will  hear  us 
and  use  their  best  energies  in  an  attempt  to  restore  to  the  people  their 
old  pride  and  confidence  in  their  local  institutions.  To.  accomplish 
this  result  should  be  looked  upon  as  the  first  obligation  of  culture  to 
democracy. 

And  now-,  in  closing,  Mr.  President,  let  me  assure  you  of  the 
great  pleasure  it  has  given  me  to  meet  with  you  and  your  co- 
laborers  and  take  part  with  you  in  these  anniversary  exercises. 
Your  University  is  known  throughout  the  world  by  her  alumni. 
From  the  lives  of  those  whom  I  have  had  the  honor  to  meet  I  know 
your  high  standard  of  character  and  scholarship.  I  congratulate 
you  therefore  on  the  results  of  your  work  in  the  past  and  bespeak 
for  you  an  auspicious  future  of  increasing  usefulness.    You  and 


47 

your  associates  have  been  called  to  a  sacred  office,  for  to  the  teach- 
ers of  our  youth  it  is  {jjiven  to  mould  the  character  of  those  who 
may  become  thf  leaders  of  tlioufiht  in  our  Nation.  Of  those  in  your 
exalted  calling  it  is  written:  "And  the  teachers  shall  shine  as  the 
brightness  of  the  fermament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteous- 
ness as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever.'' 

Your  Excellency,  may  I  express  to  you  as  the  representative 
of  the  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  the  enjoyment  that  I  have  had 
in  this  visit  to  your  State  and  the  great  delight  with  which  I  have 
witnessed  on  all  sides  the  evidences  of  prosperity,  happiness  and 
progress.  Your  State  is  advancing  rapidly  in  wealth.  Your  an- 
nual revenues  will  steadily  increase.  You  are  spending  liberally  for 
education,  but  you  cannot  spend  too  much.  Ignorance  never  helped 
an  individual  or  a  community.  A  system  of  free  schools,  culmi- 
nating in  a  State  University,  is  the  best  guaranty  the  State  can 
have  of  peace,  order  and  stability.  The  list  of  the  original  incorpo- 
rators of  your  ancient  University  is  a  most  distinguished  roll  of 
honor.  You  cannot  more  surely  perpetuate  the  memory  of  these 
great  men  than  by  extending  the  influence  of  the  institution  which 
their  wisdom  founded.  The  annual  appropriations  for  your  Univer- 
sity should  be  limited  only  by  the  capacity  of  the  President  to  util- 
ize them.  May  I  express  the  hope  that  his  zeal  will  be  equalled  by 
the  generosity  of  the  peoples'  representatives,  and  that  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina  will  continue  to  be  in  the  future  what  it  has 
been  in  the  past,  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  State  and  to  the  Nation. 

My  last  words  shall  be  to  the  young  men  of  the  University.  Be 
true  to  the  noble  traditions  of  your  Alma  Mater.  Cherish  always 
the  friends  and  companions  of  your  youth.  Hold  fast  through  life 
to  the  love  of  home,  of  kindred  and  of  neighbors.  Ennoble  your 
simplest  tasks  by  faithful  service.  Be  loyal  to  vour  town,  to  your 
State,  to  your  country.  Emulate  the  lives  of  your  fathers,  and  let 
the  words  of  Hewes,  of  North  Carolina,  be  your  g-uide.  "My  country 
is  entitled  to  my  services,  and  I  shall  not  shrink  from  her  cause, 
even  though  it  should  cost  me  my  life." 


